Streaming television service Philo is extending a partnership with electronics retailer Best Buy by offering customers a new trial deal.
Customers who purchase an eligible streaming TV device or television-related hardware will have the opportunity to subscribe to Philo at checkout and will be charged $1 for their first month of service. Philo’s normal subscription price is $20 a month.
The deal extends a partnership announced last September in which Best Buy agreed to offer its customers the chance to subscribe to Philo under a similar deal that saw customers nabbing a 30-day free trial of the service with the purchase of eligible hardware.
Best Buy customers can also purchase a Philo subscription outright by visiting a Best Buy store or through the retailer’s website. Under a previous deal, customers received 50 percent off their subscriptions, but Best Buy appears to be charging full price now.
A Philo spokesperson was unsure when the previous deal with Best Buy ended. The current $1 trial offer lasts until April 25. Customers who sign up for service directly through Philo’s website are still given a seven-day free trial of the service before their subscription converts into a paid account.
Launched in 2017, Philo offers access to more than 60 live pay TV networks. The company distributes channels from its investor-owners AMC Networks, A+E Networks, ViacomCBS and Discovery Networks. It also has distribution agreements with Altice (Cheddar), the E.W. Scripps Company (Newsy), Sony Pictures (Get TV), AccuWeather and Urban One Networks (TV One, Cleo TV). Access to premium movie networks Starz and Epix are also available for additional fees.
In order to keep costs low, Philo avoids carriage deals with programmers who offer expensive sports and cable news networks in favor of those who distribute general entertainment, lifestyle and knowledge channels. Through this strategy, the company has managed to avoid charging customers more than $20 a month since it launched three years ago.
As of November, Philo had more than 800,000 subscribers who access the service on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, Android TV and Apple TV streaming TV hardware, smartphones and tablets.
